I am a fan of Madhur Bhandarkar's brand of realistic films but somehow never managed to see Jail until today - on TV.Jail is a sordid story that needs to be repeatedly told to remind us of the larger picture of thousands of undertrials (and even convicts in some cases) languishing in prison for years on end. Many of these people could even be innocent. A case in point is the news this week of the man who was kept behind bars for 23 years and now completely acquitted. Shocking and horrifying are not adequate descriptions.The sets, costumes etc are realistic though undoubtedly sanitised. Cinematography is superb as is the acting. Neil Nitin Mukesh does a brilliant job as an innocent who is barely managing to cope with his incarceration. Manoj Bajpai and everyone else are also excellent in their roles.Though in this case there is a happy ending in that Neil is acquitted, the larger picture is that people are languishing in Indian prisons for years on end, facing untold horrors apart from the loss of liberty, who should not be there in the first place.I do not know why Jail did not do well at the box office. Some critics say it is due to Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani releasing at the same time. Jail surely deserved a better run. Do watch the DVD or when it runs on TV.

In life some moments end up obtaining the status sacrosanct. No matter how hard one attempts, they cannot be relived and any attempt to recreate the magical moments go futile. The same would applies to Madhur's "Page 3". In hindsight it serves the purpose of being an yardstick, a guiding light force, a benchmark simply to aspire but never surpass. "Page 3" created a genre which signified a fine balance of ingredients of parallel cinema doused with commercial sensibilities. Madhur's subsequent outings were attempts to fit into this genre but his every passing milestone were getting over-weighed by commercial temptations. "Corporate" and "Traffic Signal" to a certain extent carried the soul of "Page 3" but with "Fashion" it was transparent that the voice of "Page 3" was silenced and in his recent outing "Jail" the voice has perhaps died of extreme suffocation. "The Green Mile", "Teen Deewarien" and "The Shawshank Redemption" are the thought that would spring into the mind as you watch "Jail" especially the latter with Manoj Bajpai reprising the role of Morgan Freeman. Indeed the stark reality, the rustic look and nexus is portrayed with utmost perfection. Sadly the plot fails to bear the weight and the seams begin to give away with each passing reel. Performance wise, everybody is spot-on. Its difficult to segregate between the actors and the actual inmates. ˚ Niel: Gets a role of his life-time to showcase his talent in full glory. Sadly, as mentioned earlier the writing fails. Commendable is his commitment to get into the character and thereby gets an authentic look. And yes, the way his character gets implicated warranted better writing. ˚ Mughda: Seemed her character was more of glam-doll. And quite cinematic for her to stand up to the protagonist right from first frame.˚ Manoj: The character did not have much meat in it therefore he appears to akin to a goat peering his eyes into the camera.˚ Arya Babbar: Leaves an impression.˚ Navni Parihar: Except to stand next to Mughda, her character served no purpose (probably pre-meditated the "Saas-Bahu" equation well in advance!)˚ Atul Kulkarni: Very small role.Whilst the "Page 3" ending was a realistic ending, the wrap-up of "Jail" is so commercial (on the same note even "Fashion" was).

Some may call him pretentious, exploiting, sensationalist and heavily biased but that doesn't change that Bhandarkar dares to tackle themes that others would hesitate to think twice about. That said, 'Jail', sadly, offers nothing new. It's pretty much the familiar story of how a wrongfully accused man spends his years in prison. Bhandarkar could have pushed the boundary by portraying the horrors that take place within the three walls but he has opted for a safer formula this time. Moreover the background score makes the atmosphere melodramatic rather than adding anything positive. Neil Mukesh shows improvement as an actor. With a well-written role and maybe good direction, he might be a competent actor but there are a few sequences where his acting is formulaic. Manoj Bajpai is underused but he manages to outshine anyone who shares his screenspace. Arya Babbar is first rate. This actor shows great potential. Mughda Godse makes the best of her small role. The music is foot-tapping (but much of the songs aren't even needed). 'Jail' is average at best.

With Jail, Madhur Bhandarkar continues his take on reality. This time, he looks behind the closed bars of a jail to look at the stories that reside there.Parag Dixit (Neil Nitin Mukesh), a financial whiz- makes money by the plenty and lives life to the fullest with his air-hostess girlfriend Mansi (Mugdha Godse) in tow. Unfortunately for him, his roommate turns out to be a drug peddler and operates without his knowledge. The police catch Neil and accuse him of co-conspiring with his roommate, who lies in an ICU, in a coma.Falling prey to the notoriously slow judicial system, Parag ends up in jail, still pending trial. How he handles this new environment, and the stories of other individuals that inhabit the world behind bars, makes up the crux of the story.The basic premise of 'Jail' is one that can be claimed to have been lifted from a Jeffrey Archer novel, or the countless masala movies that are churned out of Bollywood every year. Where it differs is in the portrayal of the jail, forever consigned to be fairly open cells housing 1-2 prisoners, 'Jail' shows them for being what they really are. But unlike some of his earlier ventures, the exposes and the inside look ends there. There is nothing new that Madhur uncovers here: the underworld, the wrongfully-in-jail characters, the politicians holding court have all been seen before. Another problem is that the characters are too stereotypical. The good boy, the bhai's henchman, the gay couple seem out of a story and not real life. And that is where 'Jail' falters.Madhur Bhandarkar is known for his brilliant direction that keeps us motivated to sit through potentially depressing themes and stories. While this is his least depressing venture till date, he fails to deliver the same brilliant speed and sense as always.Neil Nitin Mukesh does a good job of portraying Parag, the man who is wrongfully incarcerated. It takes an immensely brave man to take up a role which is so challenging in nature. He's on screen for more than 90% of the screen time, going through so many different emotions, and also the much-talked about nude scene. He makes Parag believable. Kudos to Neil.Mugdha Godse gets very less scope as Mansi, but manages to do a decent job. Manoj Bajpayee as Parag's sympathizing co-inmate is the narrator of the movie, but somehow gets only a perennially sad expression to work with. He manages to still pitch in a good performance. His performance in the flashback sequence is his high point. This has to be expected though, with the film showcasing and focusing on Neil throughout.The music in 'Jail' is simply there to make up the numbers. Even the legendary Lata Mangeshkar's 'Daata Sun Le', though rendered as well as her songs are, could have been done without. 'Bareily ke Bazar mein' is absolutely useless placement wise and is only just bearable in terms of song quality.Kalpesh Bhandarkar captures the jail well on screen, giving the viewer as if he's looking at a sea of humanity and brings home the gruesomeness of the jail. Nitin Desai should bag the award for the best art direction unless a Sawariya or Devdas like set comes up in the movies coming up in the next month. The jail is incredibly well etched out, right down to the wall carvings.Final Verdict: Overall, Jail is only slightly above average. Watch it on the big screen only if you must. Wait for a TV release in my opinion.